Police show reporters the boxes of drugs seized from the bronze pickup in Chiang Mai. (Photo by Cheewin Sattha)

CHIANG MAI – Police on Wednesday stopped a pickup truck and seized 500,000 methamphetamine pills, or ya ba, and three kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, worth an estimated 150 million baht on the street, in Chiang Mai’s Muang district.

Deputy chief of Police Region 5 Chamnarn Ruadrew said authorities pursued the bronze coloured vehicle after they were tipped off that illicit drugs were being smuggled into the area from the border in Chiang Rai province.

The driver stopped to refuel at a pump station, and police moved to cut off the vehicle’s exit. The driver fired shots from a gun and sped away.

The driver abandoned the vehicle on the outer ring road and fled on foot. The police seized the drugs, said Pol Maj Gen Chamnarn. The driver made good his escape.

Police suspected the drugs were to be distributed next month on Valentine’s Day, because they were all pink, the deputy police chief said.

Pol Maj Gen Chamnarn said the drugs were thought to have been shipped by a network run by Hmong tribal people in Nan province. Police were investigating.

The seized drugs were taken to Mae Ping police station in Muang district, he added. – Bangkok Post